Kelowna

Early morning carjacking

4:30 p.m. update: Police are claiming there are more questions than answers in this investigation, and will be looking at all reported incidents. However Cst. Kris Clark says they are still looking for suspects in both the stabbing and the apparent carjacking.

10:50 a.m. update: Kelowna RCMP are investigating two incidents in the same area of Gordon Drive and Cameron Avenue that may be linked.

RCMP Cst. Kris Clark says a 20-year-old man walking in the vicinity was robbed and stabbed during the ensuing scuffle. The victim was able to make his way to Kelowna General Hospital where he was treated for non-life threatening injuries.

Photo: Jennifer Zielinski

Attacked and carjacked

It is the same area where Robert Polyak had his vehicle car jacked.

In that incident Clark says two men and a woman left in a brown vehicle while a third male suspect fled in the stolen Subaru.

Clark says a burned out vehicle was later found on a forest service road. Police are investigating to determine if it is the same Subaru.

9:50 a.m. update: Robert Polyak, the owner of the carjacked Subaru, says a vehicle that was found engulfed in flames on a gravel road above Kelowna Tuesday morning is probably his.

More details to follow.

8: 37 a.m. original story: A brazen attack early Tuesday morning saw a Good Samaritan savagely beaten and his car stolen, after stopping to help what he thought was a group of stranded motorists.

Robert Polyak was driving northbound on Gordon Drive, just before 6 a.m., when he saw a vehicle with its hood up parked on Cameron Avenue. Three men and one woman were waving at him and appeared to need help.

“The hood was up, and I grew up in a small town, so when someone needs help, you help them,” says Polyak, who is from Merritt but has lived in Kelowna for the past year.

He pulled over and asked if they needed help, then offered to get some tools out of his car.

“I pulled my emergency brake – the car was still running. I went to get out of my car and grab my toolbox, when I got smashed in the back of the head with a baton. I got kicked and I think I got hit again.”

Polyak says he called police to report the carjacking and then went to hospital where he received 11 staples to the back of his head.

He describes all four of the assailants as Caucasian with dark brown hair, and in their late 20’s or early 30’s.

“It all happened in less than a minute. I was down on the ground bleeding profusely and turtled up. And I could hear them saying, “get his car, take his car”.”

Polyak says he will still probably help others in the future, but admits his wounds and his memories are still quite fresh.

The car is a white 2009 Subaru Impreza plate # 757 SWM, if you spot the vehicle call 9-1-1, do not approach.

Comments are pre-moderated to ensure they meet our guidelines. Approval times will vary. Keep it civil, and stay on topic. If you see an inappropriate comment, please use the ‘flag’ feature. Comments are the opinions of the comment writer, not of Castanet. Comments remain open for one day after a story is published and are closed on weekends. Visit Castanet’s Forums to start or join a discussion about this story.